The bill filed at the House of Representatives seeking to grant ABS-CBN a “provisional franchise” is moot, a House official said on Thursday.
Palawan Rep. Franz Alvarez, chair of the House Committee on Legislative Franchises, was referring to House Bill 6732 was filed by former Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano and his allies in May 2020 amid public clamor for the House to tackle various measures seeking to grant ABS-CBN a 25-year franchise.
In a statement, Alvarez said the bill in question was already “moot and academic” since the provisional franchise proposed in the measure was only effective until October 31, 2020.
HB 6732 stated that a provisional franchise be given to the ABS-CBN “effective until October 31, 2020.” This means that the “proposed franchise” has already expired nearly three months ago.
“The subject matter of the unfinished business in the plenary is House Bill 6732, which seeks to grant ABS-CBN a provisional franchise effective until October 31, 2020. Obviously, this is already moot and academic,” Alvarez said in a statement.
“Based on my understanding from the House leadership, the ABS-CBN franchise issue is best left to the next Congress,” he added.
Alvarez made the statement after Anakalusugan Rep. Mike Defensor during Wednesday’s plenary session,
raised an issue on the unresolved provisional franchise bill for the network. He would have wanted the House leadership to act fast on HB 6732 being listed as “unfinished business” for several months now.
“Before we consider the business of the day, or the measures that we have to tackle now, I would like to like to raise a point of order that the unfinished business of the ABS-CBN franchise be decided first before we take up any issue in plenary, unless there will be a debate on the rules,” Defensor, who voted against giving ABS-CBN a 25-year franchise, said late Wednesday.
Defensor insisted that HB 6732 is under unfinished business, it should be tackled before the plenary takes up other measures.
But Defensor’s attempt to revive the issue on ABS-CBN “provisional franchise” was set aside when Deputy Majority Leader and Pampanga Rep. Juan Miguel Arroyo said that Deputy Majority Leader Xavier Jesus Romualdo had already moved to tackle business for Thursday and Friday.
No one objected to Romualdo’s motion before it was approved, said Arroyo.
Meanwhile, Alvarez said the ABS-CBN franchise issue was already “put to rest” when 70 members of the legislative franchises committee voted to deny the network’s bid in July 2020.
“Under the rules, anyone of the 70 House members who voted against the franchise application could file a motion for reconsideration on behalf of ABS-CBN to challenge the decision of the Committee. Unfortunately, there was none, thus the Committee decision has become final,” Alvarez said.
The chamber is expected to tackle bills under unfinished business, including HB 6732, by Monday next week, February 1, said Senior Deputy Majority Leader and Cavite Rep. Jesus Crispin Remulla.